CULTURAL DIRECTIONS. 



153 



months in the year, are largely grown in private establishments. There is 

 really no reason why several very ornamental kinds of deciduous Ferns which 

 succeed well in the cool Fernery should not be planted among the evergreen 

 sorts, so that when the former are deprived of their foliage their places should 

 not remain conspicuously bare. 



Although, when planted out, Ferns are to a certain extent able to take 

 care of themselves, and require comparatively little attention, yet the watering 

 of the natural Fernery is an operation which requires a certain amount of 

 tact ; and although it certainly gives a great deal less trouble than does the 

 watering of the same plants when these are grown in pots, it should be 

 attended to very carefully. The watering of such a place by means of a hose 

 fixed to a cold-water pipe (as is frequently seen in private establishments), 

 after numerous careful trials, stands condemned as being a dangerous practice, 

 and one which is productive of very serious evils. The principal drawback 

 arising from watering the Fernery by means of a hose is that, even with 

 the greatest amount of care, many of the plants receive water when they 

 really do not require it, and, when occasionally that operation is left to the 

 discretion of a less experienced, or of a less careful, person, there is always 

 the danger of its being done indiscriminately — the more so that, the water 

 flowing uninterruptedly from the pipe, no physical exertion is required. 

 Now, this water is generally, if not always, far too cold, and by being 

 poured among the roots of the plants in much greater volume than is needed, 

 these get into a bad state of health, from which they take a long time to 

 recover. To make matters still worse, it frequently happens, when the hose 

 is used, that the cold water is lavishly administered over the fronds until 

 these are dripping with it, and this by itself is highly injurious to the plants, 

 which, unless under special conditions, are all the better for having their 

 foliage kept dry. 



The only way to water the natural Fernery judiciously is by means of 

 the watering-can and the syringe : this, no doubt, requires more time, and 

 gives a little more trouble, than the hose, but it will be found a great deal 

 more satisfactory in the end, as each plant can then receive water according 

 to its requirements. The greatest danger in such a place is that of giving 

 too much water, for when the Ferns are once well established, and their 

 roots are running freely into a bulk of soil, a long space of time must 



